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California developer to buy former GM industrial space in Pontiac

Photo by CoStar Group Inc.
A California developer says he is under contract to buy 558,000 square feet of space in an industrial complex in Pontiac formerly used by General Motors Co. for research and testing.

The man who purchased a sprawling piece of Detroit-based American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc.’s 2.5 million-square-foot former Detroit Manufacturing Complex is now trying to buy his second large industrial property in metro Detroit.

Stuart Lichter, president and chairman of the board for California-based Industrial Realty Group LLC, said he is under contract to buy 558,000 square feet of space owned by the RACER Trust on South Boulevard east of Woodward Avenue, the Pontiac Centerpoint Campus West at 520 South Blvd.

He would not comment about his plans for the Class B property.

RACER, which stands for Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response, was created following General Motors Co.’s bankruptcy to clean and sell 89 unwanted or closed GM properties in 14 states.

The main building Lichter is under contract to buy was formerly used for research and testing. A maintenance building and wastewater treatment facility also occupy the site, as well as parking for about 2,400 vehicles, according to a RACER Trust marketing brochure.

Built in 1934, the property sits on 80 acres on the northwest corner of the Pontiac Central Manufacturing and Assembly Plant campus, according to the brochure. Two additions were later added.

The purchase would be RACER’s second sale in the region since February, when Livonia-based Schostak Bros. & Co. purchased the 1.2 million-square-foot GM Powertrain Engine Plant in Livonia on Middlebelt Road north of Plymouth Road.

That property, built in 1971, sold for $1.6 million, or $1.33 per square foot, according to Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service CoStar Group Inc.

According to a real estate source, the Pontiac property could be sold for about the same price per square foot as the Livonia property. That would put the sale price at $742,000.

The American Axle property was listed for $18.5 million, according to CoStar. Lichter plans build-to-suit industrial buildings there.

He told Crain’s in February that he has had discussions with possible tenants who would need at least 200,000 square feet of space for expansions. He said they are not all based in Michigan, but they all have operations in the state. About 540,000 square feet of the complex are currently standing. Approximately 360,000 square feet will remain for American Axle.

Industrial Realty’s website says it has developed more than $1 billion in corporate and governmental properties and has more than 80 million square feet under ownership or management.